and homeland security committee chairman benny tellson was very helpful in -- thompson was very helpful in crafting this amendment. i express my appreciation to you. also the ranking member, peter king, and to the ranking member of the subcommittee, charlie dent. also to the chairman of the subcommittee, ms. sheila jackson lee. they and the homeland security committee were most helpful. mr. chairman, often as we go through the airports of america we and our constituents see members of the military passing through those airports, many of them are going to iraq and afghanistan. they are leaving their loved ones. facing sometimes an uncertain future. others are coming in from iraq and afghanistan going home to see loved ones. sometimes they hadn't seen them for over a year. they are often loaded down with heavy gear. now, also at the same time we see the registered travelers who we talked about earlier, we see united premium members, we see delta platinum members and gold medallion members. we all see them getting priority. that's ok. i have no problem with that. but if there's any group o